Big Brother
by ArtistHeart
Summary: On their way to a new job in Kansas City, Sam develops an intense migraine. When their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Dean has to take care of his little brother through the night. Hurt/Comfort. Hurt Sam. Protective Dean. Warning: Includes panic attack. COMPLETE. Reviews and requests please!


Dean smirked as he pressed the gas pedal even closer to the floor, sending his car flying down the long stretch of road. It was around 11:30 PM and they were basically in the middle of nowhere. He and Sam had just finished up a hunt, and were on their way to Kansas City to investigate another case. He looked over at Sam, and his smirk instantly turned to a frown of concern. Sam was rubbing his temples with the thumb and index finger of his right hand. His eyes were squeezed shut.

"Hey...You okay over there?" Dean asked.

Sam dropped his hand quickly and looked up,"Head hurts." He glanced over at Dean's face, and noticing the concern in his eyes he added, "it's just a headache, not a migraine.

Dean returned his eyes to the road. "Let's hope it doesn't turn into one. I'll stop at the next town we pass. Should be another hour or so."

Dean turned the music off and they drove in silence for a while. Sam kept his eyes closed and rested his head on the back of his seat, taking deep, steady breaths in attempts to stifle the growing pain in his head. About 45 minutes later, Sam opened his eyes to see if they were close to town. Realizing they were still a while away, he dropped his head back onto the seat and sucked in a deep breath of air. It had started out as a simple headache, but for whatever reason it had grown progressively worse. It felt as if his head was being squeezed from all directions. Pain throbbed from the back of his neck into his eyes, consuming him. He sunk against the door and closed his eyes. Even the light of the car clock was too much for him. He let out a few sharp breaths of air and sucked a couple of gulps in, hoping the oxygen would do something to alleviate the horrendous pain in his head.

Dean, startled by the sound of his brother's suddenly strained breathing, reached over and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey, hang in there okay? Only about 30 more minutes." He returned his hand to the wheel, glancing over occasionally to check on his little brother.

After about five more minutes of driving, the car engine began to sputter. "No, no, no. Come on baby, come on!" Dean begged. After a few minutes of awkward engine noises and faint rattling, the vehicle came to a complete stop. Then came a loud pop, followed by billows of steam seeping out from under the car's hood. The engine was shot.

"This freakin' piece of crap car!" Dean slammed his hands down on the wheel in frustration. What was he going to do? He needed to get Sam to a motel. He paused, searching his brain for a clever idea. He reached for his phone and began to dial for a cab when he realized that he had zero cell service. "Dang it!" He yelled, throwing his phone to the car floor. He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated.

Dean glanced over at Sam, and suddenly all of his frustration evaporated. Sam was hunched over in the seat, head in hands. His shoulders were trembling violently. Although he was doing a fairly good job of hiding it, Dean could tell that he was crying. Dean reached over and placed a comforting hand on the back of his neck. He certainly didn't want to admit it, but he knew very well that Sam was on the verge of a panic attack. They came every once in a while when his headaches were this bad. The fact that they were now stranded in the middle of the highway with no place to stay must have pushed him over the edge.

"Hey, shhh shhh shhh. You're okay. Listen, I'm gonna take care of you alright?" Dean's kept his voice steady, and gently rubbed Sam's back. Sam showed absolutely no sign of calming down, and Dean frantically searched his mind for his next plan of action. After exhausting all of his ideas, he finally came to terms with the fact that they were going to have to spend the night in the car. He had no idea how Sam was gonna make it like this all night. Dean knew he had to make it work.

Dean took his hand off of his brother's back and opened the car door. "Sit tight Sammy. I'm comin' around." He ran around the front of the car and opened the passenger side door. He crouched down next to Sam and gently attempted to pull his hands away from his eyes. He gave up after a few tries, and moved his hands to Sam's forearms. "Hey Sam." Talking to him in this state was like talking to a wall, but Dean continued. "We're gonna stay in the car tonight okay? Let's get you into the back so you can lay down."

Sam proceeded to curl up even tighter against himself. His trembling grew even more violent as his silent crying turned into thick, loud, pained sobs. He sucked in quick, shallow breaths of air trying desperately to satisfy the burning in his lungs. His head hurt so bad. Why couldn't Dean just make it stop? He just wanted to die. Maybe he would. This is probably what dying felt like anyway. Your head slowly being crushed, bringing an intense aching pain to the rest of your body. He wasn't going to make it. It was over. He let out a loud scream as a wave of searing pain traveled from the back of his neck all the way through his temples and forehead.

"Sammy!" Dean grabbed both of Sam's shoulders, pulling him out of the tight ball he had formed, and pushed his back flat against the seat. Sam's arms remained pressed tightly around his chest as if his heart would fall out if he let go. Dean sank down to sit on the very edge of the car's seat, and cupped the sides of Sam's face with his hands. Tears streamed down his face, and sweat dripped from his hair down over his temples. His breaths were extremely shallow, sending his chest pumping up and down at a dangerously rapid rate. His sobs filled the night's silence, building the tension in Dean's chest. His little brother was hurting and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Sam! Sammy! Stay with me. You're okay, you're okay." Dean desperately tried to calm him down, but failed miserably. He gathered his baby brother into his arms, gripping Sam's back with one arm and cradling the back of his head with the other. "Shhhh, just calm down alright?" Dean rocked Sam back and forth, pressing his brother's trembling body agsinst his own. He felt Sam's heart pounding against his own chest. He wished he could do something to calm him down and make the pain go away.

They sat there for what seemed like an eternity. This was the worst panic attack Sam had ever had. Dean was extremely concerned about him. What bothered Dean the most was that he couldn't do anything to help Sam calm down. It was terrifying.

"Dean.." Sam managed to get out his brother's name in between sobs.

"I'm right here Sammy." Dean replied, tightening his grip around his little brother. "I've got you.

"I...I..." Sam gulped in more air. "Help...please..." He broke into another fit of uncontrollable sobs, followed by another loud scream as his head was filled once again with another stabbing pain from behind his eyes.

"Shhh...you're okay, Sammy. You're okay." All Dean could do was hold him. He combed through Sam's damp hair with his fingers and rubbed up and down his back. Sam's shirt was completely soaked through with sweat. Dean held him and spoke softly to him until, finally after about an hour and a half, Sam began to calm down. Sam had stopped crying, and his breathing was beginning to slow down. He was still shaking but not as violently. Dean released his grip on his little brother and gently laid him back against the seat again. He brushed the sweaty hair out of Sam's eyes and wiped the tears from his face with his thumbs. He placed a hand on Sam's chest and encouraged him to slow his breathing.

"Shh, that's it. Take it easy." Dean let out a breath of air. "Sammy?"

"Mmmm?" Sam grunted, his head rolling on the headrest.

"On a scale from 1-5 how bad is your headache right now?" Dean asked.

"Five." Sam replied, almost so quietly that Dean didn't hear it.

Dean closed his eyes. What on earth was he supposed to do? Sam's medicine had run out on their last trip and Dean was too careless to even think about re-filling it. He was angry with himself. "Alright Sam, I'm gonna drop the back of your seat down so you can rest okay?" Dean gently dropped down the seat so Sam was almost horizontal to the floor of the car.

"You want my jacket?" Dean asked. Sam nodded. Dean took off his jacked and laid it over his little brother's torso. He closed the car door gently, trying not to make too much noise, and hopped back into the driver's seat on the other side. He lowered his seat so his head was level with Sam's. He placed his hand on Sam's forehead. "Try to get some sleep okay? You'll feel better in the morning."

And with that, they both fell asleep.

Dean awoke to the sunlight streaming through the car. He glanced over and saw that Sam was waking up as well. Sam slowly opened his eyes and groaned as the sun shone directly into them. "Gosh...what the heck happened last night? Why do I have your jacket?" Sam asked in a confused tone of voice.

"You had a bad migraine. The car broke down so we had to sleep here." Dean answered. "How's your head?"

Sam rubbed his eyes. "Still hurts, but not that bad. I'll be okay. Thanks for looking after me Dean."

"You're my brother. I'd do anything for you." Dean smiled. "Now give me my jacket back, and let's get walking. We gotta get my baby fixed up." Sam smirked and threw dean's jacket at him. They got out of the car and walked slowly toward town. All Sam could think about was how thankful he was to have a big brother like Dean to take care of him.

THE END

 **Thank you for reading! Please leave reviews. I need ideas for another hurt/comfort story to write. Please give me an idea of what you would like to read, and I would love to write it! This was my first Supernatural hurt/comfort story and I want to write more. So please review! Thanks again!**


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